Motor Trend long term test - 71 kw-hr/100 miles??? Yikes!

[stuart22]

EPA rates the Volt at 34 kw-hr/100 miles, but Motor Trend's long term test results are at a shocking 71 kw-hr/100 miles!

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e_1/index.html

How could this be possible? I've got a Volt thread going on in another website for bicycle enthusiasts and it's bogged down with one of the posters using this figure to hammer the Volt down. His point has the potential to be very damaging..... if 71 is a real world figure then the Volt saves no better than a 30mpg gas powered car.

Here's the thread; any Volt owners who want to help me out by signing up on the site (I'm Starliner over there) and posting your real world experience with your Volt you are welcome to do so:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...21871#poststop

[Vettes980]

I love how it has to be about ROI for all those guys. There's absolutely no opportunity for ROI for a normal ICE car. You aren't ever going to change people like that and it's a shame, I bet it hurt when they were dropped so much as a child.

[?'smyvolt]

EPA rates the Volt at 34 kw-hr/100 miles, but Motor Trend's long term test results are at a shocking 71 kw-hr/100 miles!

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e_1/index.html

How could this be possible? I've got a Volt thread going on in another website for bicycle enthusiasts and it's bogged down with one of the posters using this figure to hammer the Volt down. His point has the potential to be very damaging..... if 71 is a real world figure then the Volt saves no better than a 30mpg gas powered car.

Here's the thread; any Volt owners who want to help me out by signing up on the site (I'm Starliner over there) and posting your real world experience with your Volt you are welcome to do so:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...21871#poststop

From their article, it would appear that they were driving in single digit temperatures. I have yet to experience that. But during January and February I was driving in temperatures that were down in the teens. The gas engine came on every so often with a notice that it was running because of the temperature...I seem to recall something about keeping the battery warm. On the worst of cold days I was getting between 30 and 35 miles of electric driving.

But, now in the sumer heat, I am pushing the 50 miles of electric plateau...haven't reached it yet but have been in the high 49 mile range. What I am also finding is that in the heat I am getting about 40 mpg when the battery power shuts down.

A person can make numbers say whatever they want to make a point. However, with over 8,500 miles on the car, I have a lifetime average of 147 mpg. I don't know what else to say in response.

# 565

[Zod]

EPA rates the Volt at 34 kw-hr/100 miles, but Motor Trend's long term test results are at a shocking 71 kw-hr/100 miles!

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e_1/index.html

How could this be possible? I've got a Volt thread going on in another website for bicycle enthusiasts and it's bogged down with one of the posters using this figure to hammer the Volt down. His point has the potential to be very damaging..... if 71 is a real world figure then the Volt saves no better than a 30mpg gas powered car.

Here's the thread; any Volt owners who want to help me out by signing up on the site (I'm Starliner over there) and posting your real world experience with your Volt you are welcome to do so:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...21871#poststop

Anyone who chooses to believe a subjective outlier data point over thousands of contrary data points and the methodical estimate of the EPA is increadibly biased and only trying to defend their pre-determined position. This person is a lost cause. Call him/her out on it and move on.

[Jeff N]

The table of info in that article shows that the 71 kWh / 100 miles covers only the first two months of January and February when they first got the car. These are the coldest months of the year in the Detroit area. Given that the Volt does most of its cabin heating using battery power it's not surprising that they would get that result. What matters is the average result over the full year. Personally, I've averaged 29 kWh / 100 miles since December and got 26 for April.

[ClarksonCote]

The table of info in that article shows that the 71 kWh / 100 miles covers only the first two months of January and February when they first got the car. These are the coldest months of the year in the Detroit area. Given that the Volt does most of its cabin heating using battery power it's not surprising that they would get that result. What matters is the average result over the full year. Personally, I've averaged 29 kWh / 100 miles since December and got 26 for April.

Exactly. My first Volt Onstar report showed 56kWh/100 miles in December/January, and the latest one was down to 33kWh/100 miles. I should also note I like to accelerate super fast in my Volt.

[Luvthevolt]

EPA rates the Volt at 34 kw-hr/100 miles, but Motor Trend's long term test results are at a shocking 71 kw-hr/100 miles!

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e_1/index.html

How could this be possible? I've got a Volt thread going on in another website for bicycle enthusiasts and it's bogged down with one of the posters using this figure to hammer the Volt down. His point has the potential to be very damaging..... if 71 is a real world figure then the Volt saves no better than a 30mpg gas powered car.

Here's the thread; any Volt owners who want to help me out by signing up on the site (I'm Starliner over there) and posting your real world experience with your Volt you are welcome to do so:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...21871#poststop

Hey Stuart I am happy to see so many members fighting for the Volt. Unfortunately we will not be able to convince everyone. Naysayers will always exist for every car out there. They also look at the sales figures and don't understand that GM was going slow on purpose no matter how many times we tell them it doesn't seem to sink in. They only look at the bad because they want GM to fail, despite knowing how many Americans work for GM.

[scottf200]

Here's the thread; any Volt owners who want to help me out by signing up on the site (I'm Starliner over there) and posting your real world experience with your Volt you are welcome to do so:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...21871#poststop

Happy to. Done.

[bonaire]

Sheesh. We have people here on this board getting 50 miles on a 13 kWh charge overnight. We know that winter mileage is lower and that's the point - we are in the first year of rollout where the first units came out in Michigan - in Winter! I guess with 2012 model year vehicles hitting the road soon, new road tests will occur again and summer-time efficiencies will be written up.

I don't even like fighting these folks - they are following an uninformed agenda. My father in law spent time in a Chevy dealer recently (when he got his Equinox). I mentioned the volt and he's somewhat uninformed about it. He thinks the dealer wanted $60K for the Volt and it was "all electric". My mother in law remembers $48K for the sticker price. Anyway - people are going to be uninformed unless they spend time studying.

GM could post feedback from Onstar data - if carefully presented, they could easily show how well the Volt is doing this summer across the whole fleet.

[stuart22]

Thank all of you for your comments and help. Happy Independence Day & drive safely.